The Storyteller, the Prince, and the Djinn | March Updates

Photo by Alex Vasey on Unsplash

I haven't written for LofM since...the end of January, according to my Google doc. I've been distracted by other things (a trip, work, three story ideas...). But I am pleased with what I have so far and I wanted to share a little excerpt.

The prologue, structured like a short story, is complete. It's titled The King and the Poetess and takes place roughly 30 years before the main story arc; it's an important piece of backstory, though that will only be revealed later on.

I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!

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Once there was, and once there wasn't, in a distant land far nearer than you might think, where firebirds nestled on the peaks of the mountains of the sun, where serpents had skins of precious jewels, where djinn cried fiery tears that lined their eyes with ash like kohl (but only when the very best of poets recited their elegies and ghazals), and the trees of the eldest forests warred for more land upon which to grow, there lived a king who ruled over a small but prosperous kingdom. It was called Mourra, for it had been carved from the ruins of a kingdom long lost, and the loss of it was bitter, and Mourra’s establishment a bitter necessity. 

This king’s name was Haitham, and he was a good king, as kings go—just and fair, inclined to the betterment of his people and his land, disinclined to needless war, firm but wise enough to bend to good counsel more often than not. His land was prosperous, his people happy, his neighbours allies. As a result, he wanted for nothing—except a wife.

If King Haitham could be said to have one folly, it was that he was a romantic. 

Ah, you may laugh, but you do not yet know all the sorrow that would come as a consequence of this little folly. You see, King Haitham desired to marry only the woman who captured his heart completely, and on this point he would not be swayed. In vain did his Council present him with a veritable parade of eligible women, but he dismissed them all. Politely, it was true, but decisively.

When asked what he sought in a wife—besides beauty, nobility, wealth, and rank—King Haitham only replied, “I will know her when I see her, but none have yet caused my heart to incline to her.”

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